You Were Always Mine: A Forbidden Stepbrother Dark Romance

by Calia Quinn

“You can lie to everyone else, little sister. But not me.”

I used to think monsters hid under my bed.
Turns out, mine sleeps down the hall.

Kai Everly isn’t supposed to look at me like that.
He isn’t supposed to touch me.
But every glance burns. Every word drips sin.
And every time I try to pull away, he drags me back in.

What started as hate turned into something darker.
a secret neither of us can bury,
a hunger neither of us can survive.

Because when love is forbidden…
it doesn’t just ruin you.
It owns you.

And Kai?
He’s never been good at letting go.

You Were Always Mine is Book One in the Never His Sister series — a forbidden, dark stepbrother romance filled with obsession, tension, and morally black desire.

Please visit the author’s website for a full list of content warnings.

436 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2025

Reviews

[Kristy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If dark taboo step siblings with high heat is your jam, well you’ll love this book! Kai and Scarlett are the step siblings and to say Kai is obsessed is putting things mildly. The angst, shame, and high tension between these two will make you 😓. When the spice hits…be prepared!! There are 2 consecutive chapters…yes 2 that are just 🥵 🥵. Can’t wait for book 2 to see what happens next with these two.

[Calia Quinn]

Hello my unapologetic sinners 🖤

Let’s be honest:

You’re going to root for Kai Everly.
You’re going to root for the wrong choice.
The wrong man.
The wrong love.

And you’re going to enjoy every minute of it.

You Were Always Mine is the book that seduces your morals, shreds your logic, and makes you whisper,
“I shouldn’t want this… but god I do.”

Welcome to the dark side.

🖤
Calia

[Jovie Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book immediately caught my eye and I could not take my eyes off my kindle. The forbidden stepbrother angle was sufficient to hook me to it, but the heat of this story put it to a new level. It has two consecutive spicy chapters that are so long in duration and I was so attached to each and every minute.

The meaning of trouble is called kai. He is the very last one she needs to fall in love with, and still I was on their side throughout. Their relationships are passionate, sloppy, and totally addictive. It provided the story with that element of tension and excitement that will make you keep on turning the pages despite the fact that it is time to sleep.

When you love forbidden romance with high heat and characters who commit all the bad decisions in the most fun and entertaining manner, it is such a fun and a gripping read. I had a great time with it.

ARC REVIEW

[Katie Gilroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I was going to give this one a 3 but the last chapter intrigued me enough to give it a 4. I’m trusting the author’s process here because I believe the next book will tie it all together.
I like the premise and I like the characters. What bugs me is the lack of continuity. In the outfits: Scarlet is playing with the seam of her jeans and then a few paragraphs later it’s a dress. In positions: I am not giving an example but I had a lot of “wait, what?” moments where I had to read back to see if I missed a detail. And last in locations: they were in the kitchen but then a mattress is mentioned. They were in the bed and his head hit the back of the couch. Things like that.
All in all it was a good read. The spice is off the charts!
I will definitely read the next one.

[bunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kai is all kinds of obsessive and I kept cringing and laughing at how over-the-top he is. Scarlett’s reactions made me roll my eyes sometimes, but she’s stubborn and smart enough to make the tension interesting. The pacing felt jagged, like one minute they’re arguing, next they’re in full chaos mode, but I was hooked anyway. Writing style is punchy and raw, though a few scenes got a bit messy with locations and outfits. That cliffhanger hit me like a sucker punch, now I’m stuck waiting for book two. The moral grey of the characters made it hard to predict what they’d do next, which kept me reading. Not perfect, but definitely memorable.

[Allicia M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story 3.5 ⭐
Spice 5 🌶️

You Were Always Mine is a taboo dark romance where the FMC and MMC are step siblings that leaves off on a cliffhanger. Scarlett started off rather innocent while Kai is and obsessive, possessive, and jealous. Kai is not a good person or a book bf by any means.

The story is interesting and ended off as things were really getting going, but the amount of repetition, especially in the spicy scenes is why I am rating it 3.5 ⭐.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Kim H · Rating 4 out of 5]

You Were Always Mine is Book One in the Never His Sister series — a forbidden, dark stepbrother romance. If you are a fan of taboo stepbrother romance, slow burn obsession, emotional turmoil, jealousy, angst, push/pull, lots of tension, insane chemistry, and intense high heat then dive into this book!! The story is interesting and the dark, raw trauma is intriguing, Tons of smut if that's your jam!! This is a dark one so know your triggers before proceeding!.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Samantha Millican · Rating 5 out of 5]

A forbidden stepbrother dark romance, the first book in the Never His Sister series. Taboo, spicy, and dark, this is one heck of a ride! Kai has been obsessed since he first laid eyes on his new stepsister, Scarlett. Read your triggers, there are plenty, from psychological to forbidden and all the bits in between. Calia really shows us the depravity of her characters, making you want to ingest every morsel. Mind the cliffy, I’ll be waiting for the second book like the good degenerate I am!.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[SJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

As far as dark forbidden romances go, Calia Quinn absolutely nailed it with this one. The depravity, possession, obsession, and intense desire were delicious.

Kai and Scarlett enter a twisted game where they could both epically lose. They risk it all as they give in to their intense attraction and desires. The spice between these two was scorching hot.

Their relationship is messy, full of tension and challenges and I couldn't get enough.

I can't wait for book 2!

[Sharon McMaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here for the taboo stepbrother romance
Make sure you read the trigger warnings and get ready for spicy taboo dark romance. There is a lot of angst between the main characters Scarlett and her stepbrother Kai and this hit the level of dark that I really enjoy but ugggg the cliffhanger destroyed me. And this was a hefty book at over 400 pages to begin with so I will patiently wait for book 2 and feel that Calia Quinn will give us all the raw energy that these give off when together.

[L. Leigh | Writer 📄📓 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow this book had my eyes glued to my kindle! Not only do you have forbidden step brother but there was like 2 chapters straight after the other from one spicy scene and both chapters were over 25 mins each. Like I said, wow. Kai is definitely not the guy she should end up with but do I want them together anyway? Absolutely

[Daria · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you choose, what is chosen
So yeah, youre either going to like it or not. Defitnely checks some of those delicious dark boxes.
Its long...it got a bit muddled in a few places but characters easy to get into. The dark is dark.

[Lian Carver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A forbidden stepsiblings dark romance that will have you gripped from the start. This has passion, tension and the forbidden element that everyone loves.

Highly recommend!!!.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Originalninja · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to enjoy this book. There were parts that were a little confusing at the beginning of the book.

I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kai and Scarletts forbidden off limits step siblings romance will have you hooked with dark obsessions, fast paced steamy hot scenes and more.

[Lei Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing screams READ ME like a Taboo, Dark, Spicy AF forbidden love story!! This book will keep you captivated from the beginning and have you throwing your hands up at the end of it.